My friends and I spend the night before the opener at my farm eating a nice dinner and telling stories and lies about past hunting adventures. Always fun. One of my friends arrived before I did and while unloading his truck a pit bull approached him and displayed aggressive intimidation. My friend got back in his truck and ran the dog off of the property with his truck. The next day I shot a doe and after field dressing it I brought it back to the farm house, put my "stuff" in the house and walked over to the barn to get some rope to hang it. When I returned, I found the pit bull claiming my deer. I didn't see him until I came around the corner of the barn and there he was 15 yds away growling. The 'stuff" that I had put in the house included my CC 38. (will not make that mistake again) I slowly backed away behind the barn and walked around it to get to the front porch of my house. I yelled at him to "go home" and after some yelling he begrudgingly went across the street to my neighbor's house. Now my neighbor has a couple of dogs, but I have never seen this one. (no collar) He and his wife tend to take in strays, so I figured that was what was going on. Now the dog is starting to come back, so I call the neighbor and he says it's not his dog, but he is feeding it because he feels sorry for it. I let him know what was going on and advised him that I was holding him responsible since his feeding it was the reason he was around. I further told him that if the dog came back acting aggressively, I would not hesitate to defend myself. He then took the dog and tied it up.My plan is if I see it loose again, I'll call the dog warden. If it comes on my property trying to intimidate me I will shoot him. Don't really want to do that, but I will not be bitten.I've had problems with dogs hunting on land that I do not own, but am not going to tolerate it on my property.What would do?

I would have called animal control AND the sheriff's police already as soon as I saw the dog on my property. I had a similar experience, and that pit bull chased me back into my truck when I went to get the mail on the road.I then went to Farm and Fleet and bought a 4 D cell battery cattle prod and kept it in the gun rack of my truck.

I did have an aggressive dog come after me one time, I hate to admit it was a pit bull, because I have also known some very sweet pit bulls. It seems that due to ownership, there are more mean ones than otherwise maybe. In any case, I was out in my back yard in Michigan to tend my garden, and I saw the dog and it was growling like usual, but it took a moment for it to register that it was inside my fence. He was really growling and then began to bark, and I ran like hell to my back door and in, and he was not far behind me. But I got inside without a problem. My dogs were going nuts, because they were not used to aggression. He was at the back door snarling and barking. Ack.

I called the police and animal control, and they talked to the owner. Thankfully this resulted in him fixing his fence. But this was a dog left outside and generally neglected for attention, it's no wonder he was mean really.

I hate when pitt bulls get stereotyped as mean dogs , when any dog can be just as mean/ aggresive.

But I also know that pitt bulls are "in style" for alot of people who also like to pose as "gangsta"

They treat the dogs in a ways as to lead to aggressive behavior. I have had 3 different friends who owned pitt bulls and all 3 were gentile babies>

Matter of fact, trhe meanest damn dog I ever saw was a cocker spaniel. They are possesive and cranky bastards!

NOw having said that though...I could not look down at somebody for defenbding themselves against anu dog, wether a pitt bull or a chihuahua having a bad day _ them ankle bitter are a real pain sometimes! LOL!

Know what I mean? Even if trhe dog was know to be of the sweetest breed, they can still go bad on you or even have rabies.

I try to get away if I can, but I am also prepared to defend myself without remorse if need be.

Pit bulls are bred for aggression, period.Even their jaws are designed to maximize damage.Just like a labrador has the natural 'bird' in him, a PB has fight to the end in him.As mentioned they can be the sweetest dogs ever. However, when the sweetest labrador ever goes off on an adult/child it tends to be vastly different then when a pitbull goes off.If you've already experienced an PB that has shown that type of aggression towards a human......its only a matter of time.Like you, I wouldn't hesitate to eliminate him next time he's around

"Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther."

ANY dog can "go rogue" but when a Pit does it you've got a big problem on your hands. Because of their size, and more importantly jaw anatomy and breeding it's like comparing when you shoot and wound a rabbit and when you wound a Cape Buffalo. With a rabbit there's no problem at all. But to quote the late African guide and author Peter Capstick regarding a wounded Cape Buffalo......."Now you've got a problem on your hands, a BIG problem."

In my case with the neighbor's Pit that chased me into my truck, about a month later the dog got out again and was in my field where my horses are. He wasn't chasing them or I would have shot him dead then and there. I did call the sheriff and they came out with animal control. They said that if the dog was NOT on the owner's property and the owner wasn't home (he wasn't), they would have shot the dog at the very first sign of aggression. Most LEOs I know have a very low tolerance level for Pit Bulls.

In my neighborhood, the law requires that dog, and one other to be fenced, chained, or on a 6 foot or less CHAIN LEASH. In addition there is a MANDATORY insurance requirement of no less than $1000.00 (I think) per dog. Their jaws have much in common with alligators, for their closing strength is very high. Behavior IS a matter of conditioning, however, very few people ever train their dogs to be sweet, gentle, little lambs. Most are used for protection of people and property, and that is by it's very nature aggression. Rolling over for a tummy rub, just doesn't get the job done. I will, without question, shoot to kill any dog that threatens me or my family, Pitt-bulls get no second chances with me. I already lost one pet due to roaming dogs.

The only real difference between a good tracker and a bad tracker is observation. All the same data is present for both. The rest is understanding what you are seeing.

I could not agree more with all of your comments. There is some history here with my neighbor and it has been all good until this recent incident. I don't live at my farm, so when I'm not there, he does keep an eye on the property for me. He was a great help to me when I first took over the farm on many levels.Having said that, I'm still back to the issue of a PB thinking that he owns the place. I bring my 3 yr old grandson there sometimes when my wife and I babysit him...enough said. I'm going back today for the Saturday hunt and really am not thrilled that I have this situation happening at a place that has been my peaceful retreat from the city. My plan is to involve the authorities, but will be prepared as necessary.Thanks for the support.

If your neighbor doesn't own the dog and is only feeding him b/c he feels sorry for it I would think it would be fairly easy to convince him to let the authorities take possession of it. There are people who have the means and ability to safely keep a dog like that, so it very well could be adopted.

Since it seems you have a good past relationship, hopefully he'd understand that you really don't want to have the situation escalate and result in injured people and a dead dog...

"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values and with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." ~Fred Bear